BAY DATELINES

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, December 7, 1996

Oakland A baby African elephant that died at the Oakland Zoo in October was the first of its species known to contract a herpes virus, zoo officials said.

The herpes virus is common among Asian elephants, said Joel Parrott, the zoo's veterinarian and executive director.

Zoo keepers are uncertain how the baby contracted the virus, he said.

"I expected the news, but it's ominous," Parrott said Thursday. "If it had been bacteria, we would have known what to do. But this leaves us in a position where we've entered this huge void of unknown."

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The elephant, named Kijana - "little boy" in Swahili - was a zoo celebrity.

Kijana was rejected by his mother at birth and hand-raised by the zoo staff. He was also the first African elephant born in captivity since 1984.

Driver sues over

Headwaters protest

San Francisco A motorist stuck in traffic for two hours when actor Woody Harrelson and nine others climbed the Golden Gate Bridge on Nov. 23 has filed suit against the protesters.

The bridge protesters unfurled banners denouncing the government's deal to save only a portion of the Headwaters forest in Humboldt County, and Harrelson gave interviews by phone from atop the bridge.

On Thursday, Novato resident Scott Shields filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court against the 10, saying he had been held up for two hours trying to drive into the city from Marin County.

Shields declined to discuss the suit.

Harrelson's publicist, Simon Halls, said Friday the actor was not aware of the suit and had no immediate reaction.

Job-seeking ruse

used in home robbery

Newark Police are looking for two robbers who burst into a woman's house and tied her up Friday after one appeared at her door to ask about a job.

The man pulled a handgun on the woman, forced his way into the home on Thomas Avenue and tied her up in a bedroom, police said. A second man then came into the home.

The two stole jewelry, money, a handgun and a rifle before leaving, police said. The woman was not harmed.

Worker electrocuted

at construction site

San Jose A construction worker was electrocuted Friday at the building site of a new main hospital at Valley Medical Center, officials say.

John Rea, 30, an employee of Rollie French Co., was electrocuted shortly after 9 a.m. while moving a piece of welding equipment, project director Patrick Love said. Rea was preparing to apply fire proofing spray to a structural column on the third floor of the building when the accident occurred.&lt;